Cho Hyun-min (Emily Lee Cho), president of Hanjin, said, "The true policy to support women business leaders is not to erect protective barriers but to create a level playing field." Cho also emphasized the need for guaranteed opportunities, transparent evaluation standards and effective financial support.
According to Hanjin on the 6th, Cho said this on the 1st (local time) in Washington, D.C., at the "2026 International Council for Small Business (ICSB) World Congress." At the event, Cho delivered the keynote for the session "Global voice: entrepreneurship without borders."
Cho said, "What women business leaders truly want in any country around the world is not policy favors but a fair market where they can compete on merit," adding, "This is ultimately the way to revive small and midsize businesses and startups and to practice people-centered entrepreneurship."
Cho emphasized that women business leaders are not subjects of protection and that what is needed is the creation of a market environment without unnecessary barriers, including: ▲ guaranteeing substantive contracting opportunities that do not stop at formal rhetoric, ▲ establishing transparent evaluation standards, and ▲ providing effective financial support tailored to a corporation's stage of growth.
Cho presented these policies as not only support measures for women business leaders but also aligned with "people-centered entrepreneurship that sustains the entire industrial ecosystem." ICSB holds as a core value that entrepreneurs should be cultivated as leaders who enhance human capability and create social value.
Following the keynote, Cho also joined as a panelist for the session "Women CEOs global lens," held at the Jack Morton Auditorium at George Washington University and moderated by Camille Burns, chair of the Women Presidents Organization (WPO), to exchange views.
ICSB is an international nonprofit academic organization founded in the United States in 1955 to advance small and midsize businesses and entrepreneurship worldwide. Each year, it holds a congress in major cities around the world and hosts "Micro-, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs) Day" events at United Nations (UN) headquarters.
This year's world congress was held at the U.S. Capitol, House office buildings and George Washington University in Washington, D.C., to mark the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States. The entire program was broadcast live online to audiences around the world.